Last Updated on September 9, 2026 by Carrie Korem, FNTP
A Pumpkin Banana Tart is a fun twist from the usual pumpkin pie during the fall!
The graham cracker crust is topping with a sweet puree of pumpkin and banana and is served chilled with whipped cream.
PrintPumpkin Banana Tart
If you can tolerate grains and prefer a gluten-free crust here is Shauna’s recipe for gluten free graham crackers. Recipe adapted from Barefoot Contessa Family Style.
Ingredients
Units
Crust:
- 1 batch grain-free graham crackers
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Filling:
- 2 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
- 1/2 cup half-and-half
- 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree
- 1 cup organic whole cane sugar or sucanat
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1 ripe banana, finely mashed
- 1/2 cup cold heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 cup (1/2 pint) cold heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
For the Crust:
- Place graham crackers in the bowl of a food processor. Process until finely ground. Pour in butter and pulse until crumbs are moist. Pour graham cracker mixture into a buttered, 10-inch tart pan. Press crumbs along bottom and up sides of pan. Bake 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely.
For the Filling:
- Dissolve the gelatin in 1/4 cup cold water. Set aside. Heat the half-and-half, pumpkin, whole cane sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water until hot, about 5 minutes. Whisk the egg yolks in a small bowl, stir a large spoonful of the hot pumpkin into the egg yolks to heat them, then pour the egg-pumpkin mixture back into the double boiler and stir well. Heat the mixture over the simmering water for another 5 minutes, until it begins to thicken, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat. Stir in the dissolved gelatin and banana. Cool to room temperature.
- Whip the heavy cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. While the mixer is on, slowly pour in the maple syrup and whip until stiff peaks form. Fold the whipped cream into the now-cool pumpkin mixture and pour it into the cooled tart shell. Chill for 3 hours or overnight.
- For the decoration, whip the heavy cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. While the mixer is on, slowly pour in the maple syrup and vanilla and whisk until you have firm peaks. Pipe or spoon the whipped cream decoratively on the tart. Serve cold.
Your tart looks perfect. Great dessert for the holidays!
Thanks for sharing your story with us. Your honesty in this post will help so many others with or without this same condition. We learn from our community daily. This recipe sounds wonderful & the photos are beautiful!
That couldnt have been easy to share, but thank you for having the courage. And praise God for relief from the pain!
Be blessed-
Amanda
Oh my gosh, Carrie… I had no idea what all you had been through. What a struggle…and a mystery at first. It frustrates me so much that many of the doctors you saw just blew it off as “dry skin”. I’m so glad you took matters into your own hands and did some research on your own. Can you imagine the people who don’t?
Blessings to you!
Yea! Sharing our struggles and what eventually works helps so many. Thanks for putting yourself out there!
Thanks for sharing your story Carrie! It couldn’t have been an easy thing to do! But I’m so glad your better and we love you so much!!! See you saturday! xo
I made this yesterday. Quick, easy, and amazing! Served it to two
Thanks for sharing your story, Carrie
Carrie, you have shared dribs and drabs of your journey with me, but this post puts is all together for me. I am sorry you have had to deal with this. And mercury in your thyroid. Can there be anything worse? I have suffered my whole life with excema and I feel it is time to take food into my own hands…thanks to you! Thanks for sharing your story, your journey and your heart. I am thankful that I have you in my life! xx
Thanks for sharing your story!
Thank you for sharing, I was diagnosed with Celiac’s just before Thanksgiving last year, so I know how hard it is to avoid gluten. After a year I can honestly say that it does get easier and feeling better is very much worth it. Although there were many nights I cried over not getting anymore powder sugar donuts 🙂
Thank you Kim. It’s good to hear others have cried over baked goods. 🙂
Thank you for sharing your story! As hard as it may be to tell it, it was clearly much harder to live through! I am in awe of your ability to stay positive and thankful in the midst of such physical pain. You’re an inspiration, and will help so many!
Thank you Tara! I’m so touched by everyone’s comments today.
Carrie, thank you so much for sharing your personal story. I am amazed at how long it takes for us to figure out what’s wrong with us sometimes. It’s such a hard thing diagnosing the broken parts…Thank you for your honesty, your grace, and your inspiring story. You are wonderful. xoxo, Brooke
Thanks for sharing your incredible story! And the tart looks unbelievably good. 🙂
Carrie,
I am amazed that you could keep cooking, baking and blogging when you couldn’t eat your own goodies! We’re exploring a possible gluten sensitivity in our household currently, and it’s not only challenging in the kitchen, but in the doctor’s office as well. I am constantly shocked by the lack of information and wealth of misinformation out there. I’m so sorry you had to deal with the same!
So important to share your story, especially your motivation to keep going seeking the good in God’s will.
🙂 Katie
Yes, it’s concerning that the many doctors I saw couldn’t see anything beyond handing me a prescription. The doctors didn’t understand (and still don’t) why I chose the path I did, but you know what? Whole foods, supplements, and cleanses work! I hope you find the solution to your “possible gluten sensitivity” soon. I know how troubling how it can be.
I was extemely saddened to hear about your struggle, Carrie, and I am so sorry that you’ve been through such a hardship. I’m shocked that you’ve been going through this for a whole year and I, a devoted reader, was completely oblivious. I’m horrified that the cause was an improper tooth cleaning. I know how difficult it is to be faced with a lifelong medical condition. It takes time and courage to deal with, emotionally and physically, but I hope you take comfort in the fact that you’re over the worst, and that you have gained a stronger appreciation for life. You are indeed an inspiration!
Thank you! The blog was a great outlet for me while I went through all of this. It was wonderful to have a place to talk about all of the other things in my life aside from my illness. A blessing! It took me a long time to finally tell everyone. Last month I came home and told my husband it was finally time! I really hope that my story can help others, and yes, I’m so thankful I’m over the worst!
Wow, that is quite a story. Soooo happy you figured it out and are doing so much better!
Just found your blog tonight and it looks wonderful. 🙂
What an amazing story! I’m so glad it had a happy ending! I’m so glad that you were able to find the right food and the right solution to healing yourself! Having several doctor friends, I know that they often tell me “yeah, we are often guessing ourselves” which TOTALLY does not give me any confidence in my doctor’s diagnosis! I’m glad that you took the initiative to discover what was the problem yourself!
And I found that baking gluten free for my friends (I’m not gluten sensitive) has totally shifted the way I bake. I love that. It just means even more ways to bake wonderful things. Like your banana pumpkin tart. It looks amazing!
So glad you’re well again. That sounds so scary and frustrating!
*hug* Good job. You’ve helped people.
xo
your story is very inspiring.
i have passed it onto other i know who will find it helpful!
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing journey with us here. I am so glad that there was someone to help you through this and bring you onto the road of health. We had a scary journey on our path to getting my son healthy. We were first told he had cancer because of his blood work, then possibly a brain tumor (because they discovered he was having seizures in his sleep), then they could not figure anything out. So frustrating, but such a relief when we found out it was Celiac Disease. After all the things we thought it might be, we were grateful for that diagnosis.
Oh, and that Tart looks AMAZING! I love the combination of flavors there!
Thank you for sharing your journey with all of your readers. You are an inspiration to many and I have no doubt this will be used to encourage others who are struggling.
To God be the glory!
Carrie – thank you for sharing. It takes courage to share our personal stories, but as each of us bares our souls, it helps other people see that we’re not alone, that there is help and there are healthy solutions. Your story is a reminder, yet again, of the importance of eating clean, organic food. Even armed with the knowledge about the dangers of non-organic food, sometimes, in a pinch, I’ll buy something that isn’t organic. But more and more, I am convinced, especially after reading your story, that organic is the way to go.
Your pie is BEAUTIFUL and looks delicious! Thank you for sharing!
best, Ellen
THANK YOU for posting your story. It is a lovely balm to my soul 🙂 Though I do not have a thyroid condition, I do have a compulsive eating disorder and a new exclusively breastfed baby with a gluten allergy. I too have cried over the unknown of what I will be able to enjoy-or not enjoy-down the road. Thanks for the great recipes and the good word!
Thanks for sharing your story. It took me three years to be diagnosed with Hashimoto’s. I had severe inflammation and chronic fatigue along with a bevy of random and debilitating symptoms. It took me gaining 20 pounds in 3 weeks for my doctor to test my thyroid. When I started to see a nutritionist, the doctor reacted like I was seeing a voo doo practioner — this despite offering little more than a prescription and a psychiatric referral while I had practically zero quality of life. I did IgG testing, and am now gluten-, dairy-, nut-, soy-, and sugar-free. Sounds drastic, and it is, but it works for me. Like a crazy person, I continue to buy baking books. I think it’s inspiration that somehow, some way, I’m going to make those recipes work for me. I’m glad I’m not the only one, and you’re sharing how it can be done.
I’m so sorry to hear about your diagnosis. It’s amazing how the thyroid can wreck such havoc on our bodies isn’t it? I also gained 10 pounds in a week at one point and thought I was going to go crazy! I’m so glad you found a nutritionist to work with and I hope as your blood levels begin to improve that you can add some foods back to your diet. I’m glad you’ve found a way to bake even with your restrictions. I understand the need to make the recipes work. Thank you for sharing your story.
Carrie, (I’m sure you are shocked that I’m posting) this looks so delicious!! The kids saw it yesterday morning and said it looked so good…guess I’ll have to make it, huh?! Hugs to you and the girls!
Carrie,
Thank you for sharing your story. I continue to be appalled by the medical community, but I won’t get into that rant!
I am so thankful you are now healthy and able to enjoy life to its fullest. I hope your story is helpful to others in your situation. It really is true that God can take any bad thing and work it for good…..we usually just don’t realize it until the bad part’s over! 🙂
Totally got reminded of the day you came for the end of your book shoot and you and I were washing dishes and your hands got itchy and a bit swollen. I remember feeling 1/utter shit because I had made you sick and 2/helpless because I cared about your well being and yet you were just smiling it off, only thinking about reassuring us you were fine.
You’re awesome. Plain and simple.
Wish we could do Thanksgiving together!!
Wow. What an ordeal… I’m glad you are improving all the time and had such a great support system in place as you determined the cause. This tart is beautiful.
Here I am struggling with what to do with the last of my pumpkin and have some bananas that are reaching out to me, thanks so much for your recipe, two birds with one stone. And something different, thanks!
Oh my word, Carrie. What a testimony! I love your determination to find the root of the problem. Dori S. sent me here and another friend in WI linked me here after she read your Fox News article (she knew I was at Edwards, too), I’m certainly encouraged and curious about organic eating, thank you for sharing. Hope our paths cross 🙂
S
Hi Carrie,
Thank you for posting this, I found you through The gluten-free girl’s blog.
Just wondering, what is half-and-half? I haven’t heard of that in Australia.
Sorry to hear about your trying experience, I can sympathise with not finding the answers, although the symptoms on my path have not been that extreme, thanks to God’s graciousness.
God bless,
bob <
Hi Bob, half-and-half is simply 1/2 milk and 1/2 cream. They bottle it up here and sell it in the stores. And yes, thank goodness for God’s graciousness!
Hi there,
I was diagnosed with Hashimotos over ten years ago.
I am still suffering and taking meds. to balance my TSH levels but moving countries 3 times and changing doctors five times has not helped. With all the second and third and fifth opinions, it just got worse. But I find it ebbs and flows. For years, the symptoms were managed and then they resurfaced. So back to the drawing board I go. Thanks for sharing your story.
My mom is going through something similar and i’ve heard about how a gluten free diet can really make some improvements. This is really inspiring and quite frankly, really interesting. My mom has been going to the dentist a lot the past few years so I wonder if this same thing has happened to her. Thanks for sharing this!